On the opening night of the Bolshoi’s
London season, Maria Alexandrova will dance the leading role of Kitri
in “Don Quixote”, surprisingly she has only just been promoted to the
status of principal dancer and when I met her recently to talk about her
career, I quickly realised what an up-hill labour her progression to the
top has been. Time and again she was passed over for roles for which someone
in authority had considered her unsuitable. On the other hand choreographers
have almost fallen over themselves to create leading roles for her (two
of which she will dance in London) with Lacotte, Ratmansky, Eifman and
Poklitaru all recognizing her unique gifts. Audiences simply adore her;
read the comments here on Criticaldance about her performances in Paris
earlier this year and you will discover just how easily she can captivate
the public. At last it seems Alexandrova is to be accepted as the supreme
artist she truly is and her stubborn struggle to assert herself is at
an end as her enlightened new director acknowledges her blazing talent.

I found “Masha” to
be good-natured, thoughtful and articulate. She is very striking looking,
with a flawless ivory complexion and the large features that the stage
loves so much – big eyes and a wide mouth with a smile that can compete
with that of Julia Roberts. Throughout the interview I was impressed by
her love of dance, by her need to communicate with her audience and above
all the sheer joy she experiences from being on stage. Having been fortunate
enough to see her dance on a number of occasions, I feel the word that
best sums her up is – superb! Watch her dance and you will agree with
me.

Mary Barnstable:First of all your early life; do you come from a theatrical background?

Maria Alexandrova:
Absolutely not!

So you
discovered dance for yourself and were attracted to it?

My mother wanted her
daughter, her Masha, to become a little ballerina. She guided me towards
that goal so that when I discovered dance for myself I also knew that
my mother was very fond of that, so our desires were united.

So she
goes to all your performances?

Yes! She goes to all
my performances in Moscow.

What roles
will you be dancing in London?

Juliet, Kitri in “Don
Quixote” and two roles in “The Pharaoh’s Daughter.”

What was
it like working for Pierre Lacotte? Was it very different to working with
a Russian ballet master?

At first I had a small
role and didn’t receive so much attention from him when I was dancing
the part of Ramse, but later when I was preparing to dance Aspicia (the
leading role) he worked extensively with me. He was extremely demanding
to the extent that when he wants to get something from a dancer he will
not have any regard for how you feel. It doesn’t matter to him what you
are doing today or what you are doing tomorrow. No. He will demand what
he wants to achieve.

I’d like
to ask about “Romeo & Juliet” - had you danced in any other production,
such as those by Lavrovsky or Grigorovitch before you danced in this very
new version?

Before I danced this
new “Romeo and Juliet” I had only danced the balcony scene from the Lavrovsky
production at a concert and not anything else from the ballet because
in the theatre they did not consider that it was my emploi.

“Romeo
& Juliet” is a very modern work; tell me about modern dance in Moscow.
Is there a wide modern dance scene?

There are some small
groups that dance solely modern works and don’t dance the classics, but
there are very few of them and modern dance lags behind the west. In Moscow
it is not the same level as here.

Do you
personally welcome a move towards more contemporary work at the Bolshoi?

Yes, I think that
it is necessary but not on the main stage, we are lucky enough to have
two stages now and on the main stage we perform works that symbolize the
glory and the long history of the company and exploit the great capacity
of the Bolshoi Theatre. I think that modern ballets would not be so good
in that auditorium, they would get lost there because it is such a vast
stage. The smaller stage is an ideal space in which to experiment. It
is good for another reason as well; every year there are new younger dancers
joining the company and they can’t get roles so soon on the main stage,
so they can try themselves out on the new experimental stage, as it is
very important that they discover their talents and personalities while
they are still young. It gives them opportunities so they don’t remain
in the background all the time. I still feel when I dance on the smaller
stage that I am dancing on tour!

Influences:
Has there been a teacher who has influenced your style?

Tatiana Golikova is
the teacher who influenced me and helped me to reveal my resources and
from the very beginning she helped me emphasize my positive features and
to overcome my deficiencies and I am still working with her today.

Is there a role you particularly associate yourself with,
a role for which you have a special sympathy?

There is a role that
makes me feel very comfortable and very happy and makes me feel like a
girl able to do what she likes. It is Ramse in “Daughter of the Pharaoh”.

It’s a very beautiful,
a very spectacular ballet.

Is there
a role that you don’t currently dance, that you would like to dance? Personally
I would love to see you dance Odette/Odile.

Thank you very much
for saying this! I am rehearsing this role at the moment. At one point
I thought it might be possible for me to dance “Swan Lake” for the first
time in London but they decided that I would have enough work here without
this role.

At first in the theatre
I was told it would be a definite no to my request for a “Swan Lake”,
because they said it is not for me and that I am not suited to such roles
in the classical repertoire and that it is not my emploi. However,
in recent months, I began to feel a shift of opinion in the theatre so
that I could try the role even though in the past they were resistant
to my dancing the classical repertoire and I had in fact done very little.
Personally I adore the classics and I want even more to prove that I can
do it. Now that I have a chance I will definitely do it.

I think
you’re a wonderful classical dancer and “Swan Lake” can benefit from a
number of equally valid interpretations.

I have to say that
it’s easier for me to dance in the West and easier to be accepted here.
In my own theatre I always have to prove that I have the right to dance
a particular role and to show I can achieve some success, while in the
west somehow it is easier to get this acceptance and success.

What are
your hopes for the future; would you for example like to guest with other
companies to get experience in a wider number of roles?

I cannot say what
I will do or what the future holds for me but I can just say that I want
to do it; I would love to give guest appearances with other companies.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t like my theatre; I love my theatre so much
and many things link me to my theatre - it is my home and I love to dance
there but definitely I would be very interested to try other companies
that have different productions by many choreographers. I would love to
experience what is happening in other countries.

You have
appeared in several ballets by Alexei Ratmansky how do you think he will
influence your career now that he is director?

One of his ballets in which I appear,
“The Limpid Stream” played a very significant role in my life and in a
way it was a turning point, because it was such a success both as a new
work and for my performance. It was a very unusual production for the
Bolshoi and it was actually greeted enthusiastically by everyone and for
me personally it was important because it showed I became more prominent
and couldn’t be hidden any more. It was also a big success in Paris, something
that definitely influenced my career, but what will happen later I don’t
know. It was a successful ballet for my career and for Alexei Ratmansky’s
career, but what he will do in the future I cannot forecast.

I notice from your
list of roles that you’ve danced “La Sylphide”, how did you feel dancing
in that very different style of choreography?

I felt wonderful! Because every
girl dreams of being in a fairy tale, of being a sylph, being able to
fly and to flirt and this was something buried deep inside. Life doesn’t
give you a chance to experience these things, but in this ballet when
you dance this role you become a sylph who is so detached from real life
and doesn’t realize what reality has in store for her. It is just an enormous
joy to find yourself in this ballet. Some people thought that it’s not
my role and some people said that it wasn’t for me because I have dark
hair and dark eyes. But I know where my heart is and my heart is in this
role, I feel this role. I can do it and I love to do it.

I think Taglioni also
had dark hair and dark eyes.

When I danced this it was the time
when in the theatre they were rehearsing Balanchine and Violette Verdy
was at the time working with the dancers. After the performance she came
backstage and she embraced me and expressed her admiration saying “it’s
wonderful that you know exactly what this role is about” and she praised
me and kissed me and then next day when I passed her by in practice clothes
and my hair in a pony tail she didn’t recognize me at all and when I said
hello somebody had to tell her “this is Masha who danced yesterday” and
she looked at me again and she still didn’t recognize me, but only when
I smiled at her did she finally recognize me.

I was very impressed
by your performance in “Symphony in C” on video. Would like to try more
Balanchine?

I have danced the “Tchaikovsky
pas de deux” as well, with Filin and also with Samodorov at the new opera.
I love both works because they are so sunny and so cheerful. There is
so much joy in both “Symphony in C”, in both the third movement and the
pas de deux. I really enjoyed dancing it because of the optimistic feeling.

Tell me about your
partners: do you have a favourite partner?

I’ve danced with all the Bolshoi
male dancers and they are all highly professional and I enjoy dancing
with every one of them, but there is always one special dancer with whom
I danced since a child – Nikolai Tsiskaridze. We had a wonderful partnership
in part three of “Symphony in C” and then when the management of the Bolshoi
showed this Balanchine again in the first triple bill I danced the pas
de deux. But when the second combination of Balanchine ballets were prepared
I was unhappy not to be dancing with Nikolai, because he was injured.
People started asking, “Why doesn’t she dance?” and finally the management
told me to dance and I danced it with Alexander Vorobiev
in his first major role. But I would love to repeat it with Nikolai
because we had such a good rapport in this role - dancing “foot in foot”,
as we say.

I imagine there will be a
number of new faces this time around in London?

Yes, I think London is in for a
surprise as there will be some fresh discoveries to make; at least I would
like to see that London makes discoveries this time. I speak not only
on my own behalf but also on behalf of everyone in the theatre when I
say I would love this tour to be very successful

I think it will be.

At least the repertoire is very
strong and I think it is admirable how the Bolshoi is able consistently
to show different productions.

Will you be dancing
in “Spartacus”?

I usually perform Aegina but this time I will not dance
it in London. Come to Moscow!

I will. What about
audiences, do you notice a different audience reaction when you are away
from Moscow?

Actually we always have good reactions
to our performances. The audience we dance for are very good natured and
friendly and the difference probably is that when we dance in Moscow we
feel at home and know that at least some of the audience knows us and
some people come specially to see me, whereas when you are on tour to
a new town you have to show yourself, you have to make yourself known
to people and become accepted. You have the extra excitement and challenge,
so however good the reception you feel you are opening a window on a new
world for yourself and for the audience. You cannot imagine what happiness,
what a good experience, what a sigh of relief we had when at the dress
rehearsal in Paris when “The Limpid Stream” finished, there was a flood
of applause and people were clapping so much in unison for such a long
time, it was such a relief because we were worried. This was such an unusual
ballet and the fact that we were accepted by the knowledgeable audience
even though they knew it was a only a dress rehearsal. They were clapping
a long time and showed us that it was a success and we were very, very
happy.

I really hope that
success will be repeated here and I’m sure it will be.

Actually the beginning of the preparation
for the Paris tour was not easy because first of all we knew we wouldn’t
have Nikolai on our tour and one of the trump cards, Pique Dame, in which
he had the leading role, had to be replaced by “The Limpid Stream” and
in our opinion success could not be guaranteed for this new work. Then
we also discovered that yet another principal dancer, Sergei Filin, would
also be unable to dance and then, when we were on the flight to Paris
we learned that one of our technicians had died in Paris on the first
day he arrived at the theatre and all these things made us worried. There
was a lady who came to see us looking for Nikolai Fadeyechev, as she was
his admirer. She was from an old Russian immigrant family she began talking
to us telling us “I don’t like Lacotte’s ballets and won’t watch “Daughter
of the Pharaoh” nor the “Limpid Stream” which I’m not coming to see at
all because it is set on a collective farm so I don’t think I would like
it”. As she told this to me and Yan Godovsky, who replaced Sergei Filin,
we looked at one another and tried to forget what she said because it
wasn’t too pleasant to remember but in the end it turned out that it was
a success.

I want to come to London again
and again. I have already been here a lot but there are always more things
to see.

Edited by Stuart

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